Magnetic induction tomography imaging can be used to image an electromagnetic property distribution (e.g. conductivity or permittivity) within human tissues. More particularly, magnetic induction tomography techniques can provide for the low cost, contactless measurement of electromagnetic properties of human tissue based on eddy currents induced in tissues by induction coils placed adjacent to the tissue.
Electromagnetic properties such as conductivity and permittivity vary spatially in human tissue due to natural contrasts created by fat, bone, muscle and various organs. As a result, a conductivity or permittivity distribution obtained using magnetic induction tomography imaging techniques can be used to image various regions of the body, including lungs and abdominal regions, brain tissue, and other regions of the body that may or may not be difficult to image using other low cost biomedical imaging techniques, such as ultrasound. In this way, magnetic induction tomography imaging can be useful in the biomedical imaging of, for instance, wounds, ulcers, brain traumas, and other abnormal tissue states.
Existing techniques for magnetic induction tomography imaging typically involve the placement of a large number of coils (e.g. a coil array) near the sample and building an image based upon the measured mutual inductance of coil pairs within the large number of coils placed near the specimen. For instance, an array of source coils and an array of detection coils can be placed adjacent the specimen. One or more of the source coils can be energized using radiofrequency energy and a response can be measured at the detection coils. The conductivity distribution (or permittivity distribution) of the specimen can be determined from the response of the detection coils.